Dec 21 (Reuters) - AGL Energy Ltd AGL.AX slashed its fiscal 2021 profit forecast on Monday as an outage at one of its coal-fired plants and lower wholesale electricity prices pressured Australia's top power producer, sending its shares down more than 6%.
The Sydney-based company now expects underlying profit after tax between A$500 million and A$580 million ($378.40 million-$438.94 million) for the year to June 30, 2021, down from its previous expectation of between A$560 million and A$660 million.
The midpoint of the forecast range is 14%, or A$87 million, below analysts' estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
On Friday, AGL had said a fire in a generator transformer at one of the units of its Liddell plant in New South Wales left an employee seriously injured and led to a shutdown of the unit.
AGL now expects the unit to return to service in early March next year.
The company said the profit downgrade was also due to pressure from weaker wholesale electricity prices and rising costs, which could worsen in FY2022.
Shares of AGL dropped as much as 6.4% to a more than nine-year low of A$12.380, amid a weaker broader market .AXJO .
($1 = 1.3214 Australian dollars)